Happy 80th Birthday to the First Woman in Space

A textile worker with a penchant for skydiving, Valentina Tereshkova was chosen as the pilot for Vostok 6 in 1963. She orbited the earth 48 times – dealing with malfunctions that threatened to send her craft careening into deep space – before landing in a rural field. After she landed, local villagers helped Tereshkova out of her spacesuit and asked her to join them for dinner. She accepted, and was later reprimanded for violating the rules and not undergoing medical tests first.

After she landed, “Villagers helped Tereshkova out of her spacesuit and asked her to join them for dinner… She accepted, and was later reprimanded for violating the rules and not undergoing medical tests first.”